Entries in cupcakes (18)
A Stroke of (Cup)cake Gig Brilliance & Another Award!
Last month I was contacted by a fellow expat here in Amsterdam, who was looking for a bakery or a baker to turn out some American-style baked goods for his partner’s birthday. He’d seen the Peanut Butter Torte that I’d made for TWD and thought that would be just the thing for his peanut butter loving partner. I informed my prospective patron that he should look no further and promptly sent him over my price list, with the promise that I’d get back to him with a quote for the Peanut Butter Torte. He eventually ordered a dozen cupcakes in addition to the torte and we set a date for the pick-up.
I love the blogosphere and how it connects food lover everywhere, and that was solidified when my lovely patron turned up to pick up the goodies. I was right in the middle of my the little gilding job you see gracing the devil’s food cake cupcakes and while he patiently waited for me to finish up and stow everything carefully into their boxes, we talked about Europe, America, cake, cocktails and living abroad. It was a fabulous experience.
Now I hate to toot my own horn, but the gilded cigar shaped decoration just so happens to be a mini Twix bar! You see, my patron had asked that if I could somehow work Twix bars into the mix, knowing it would be just the thing to thrill his candy bar loving partner. I thought about it for about a week and then it struck me, why not gild mini Twix bars with some edible gold leaf sheets that I’ve had lying around for the last year? So I bought a box of mini candy bars and would you believe it had exactly six mini Twix bars in it? Just the amount I needed. Luckily for me I happen to know some very talented frame makers who specialize, amongst other things, in gilding. I’ve been at their shop many times and have watched the process, so I just winged it (with the help of a few mini Milky Way bar test subjects) and I was well chuffed with the end result! I’m very much looking forward to getting a proper gold leaf brush and really having a go!
Last but not least I’ve been awarded another blogger award! Andreea of Glorious Food & Wine has honored me with the Arte y pico award! Thank you Andreea!
There are so many talented bloggers out there, that it’s not really difficult to find five to present this award to, but this time I'd like to award some blogs I've been reading for a couple of years and still love …
Gigi of gigi cakes…for her beautiful baked goods and generally lovely self.
Mandy of Fresh From the Oven…for her inspired recipes and gorgeous photos, she's no longer a novice baker, by any means.
Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once…who never fails to thrill me with creative recipes and gorgeous food.
Molly of Batter Splattered…who is all about local ingredients.
Jeanette of everbody likes sandwhiches…because she’s funny as hell and because I’ve meet her in person and she’s very cool. So cool that she probably won’t accept this award.
Going Back to my Roots with Cupcake Hero
This month the theme "ingredient" for Cupcake Hero is Earth Day, as chosen by Tempered Woman, partner in crime to Cupcake Hero's founder and hostess-with-the-mostess, Laurie of quirky cupcake. With such a broad and interesting topic to portray using the cupcake as my medium, let me tell you, I found it difficult to come up with an idea. I thought about it and thought about it and thought about it some more, and when I couldn't come up with anything, I decided I'd better pick the brains of my nearest and dearest. So a big shout-out to my darling friend Liz who suggested using flower pots as baking cups and to my lovely boyfriend who came up with idea of a farming theme, after their input everything else just fell into place. In my case, the egg came before the chicken, in that it was only after thinking about the subject of Earth Day and farming, that I started thinking about sustainable agriculture and locally grown foods and how my opionions on the subject were shaped by my parents. In honor of Earth Day and my wonderful parents, I present to you my organic farm cupcakes in a reusable baking cups!
mari
in recipes, cupcakes, Cupcake Hero, I believe in...
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TWD - Bill's Big Carrot Cake
First off, a big thank you to Amanda of slow like honey for choosing this week's recipe, it may well be one of the easiest recipes that I've made for Tuesdays with Dorie so far. No need to set butter out hours in advance to ensure that it's up to room temperature, no separating of eggs nor whisking of egg whites, not one step that could be called complicated unless you don't happen to have a food processor with which to grate your carrots; and even then it's not really difficult with a box grater, just labor intensive.
mari
in recipes, cupcakes, cake, Tuesdays with Dorie
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Red Velvet Valentine's Day
We'll just ignore the fact that I haven't posted a darn thing in months and concentrate on today's "holiday." Personally, I think such a title should only be given to days when one actually doesn't have to go into work; but hey, what do I know?), and a perfect excuse to get back on the baking/cupcake and share some love with my colleagues and E's colleagues.
Epicurious.com recently featured a series of videos featuring Bobbie Lloyd, CBO ("chief baking officer") at Magnolia Bakery in NYC, making the bakery's signature red velvet cupcakes with a creamy vanilla frosting for Valentine's Day. I happen to have a steller recipe for red velvet cake, which I think is so fabulously tasty that I'm unlikely to try another (please feel free to send samples though, I could change my mind); however the recipe for the vanilla frosting really caught my attention. The recipe uses a cooled paste of cooked milk and flour as a base, which is then incorpated into the butter and sugar mixture. Having never come across such a recipe, I thought, this I have to try.
So last night, I whipped up two and half dozen red velvet cupcakes, and my baking buddy Liz cooked up the milk and flour paste. We were both pretty skeptical as to how it would turn out, but put all our trust in the professionals at Magnolia Bakery, and were not disappointed. The frosting is lovely and white, light and fluffy, vanilla-rich and not too sweet. The only glitch that I had with the recipe was that a skin formed, eventhough I placed waxed paper on the surface while it cooled. I'm not sure what I could do to forcome this, or if I did something to cause it, only future attempts will tell. Should this happen to you, I'd advise to remove the skin, so that there are no lumps in the frosting.
Check out the video series and recipe on Epicurious.com.
mari
in baking, cupcakes, Valentine's Day
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Marriage au Cirque
Four and half weeks ago, my beautiful and talented friend Lotta married her longtime boyfriend Milan, in a fabulous and festive celebration of love. The bride wore blue, the groom wore white and the ceremony was held in a circus tent under strings of fairy lights and colorful piñatas.
I had the pleasure and honor of baking 12 dozen wedding cupcakes for the wedding party, a gig that put my nerves and oven to the test! Red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and yellow cake cupcakes with hemelsblauw vanilla swiss meringue buttercream, made up the tasty trinity of the cupcake menu. This was my sophomore effort in the world of wedding (cup)cakes, but I was so excited to be working with the creative tour de force that is Lotta, I never doubted from the moment she asked me that this project wouldn't be something special.
Of course there were hiccups during production; I slept badly as I always do when I'm busy with any cake gig, large or small; the chocolate butterflies that would be decorating one-third of the cupcakes came in two pieces instead of one, and arrived in the mail at the very last minute, making an on-the-spot solution necessary; but all in all, these issues were minor. When I placed the 144th cupcake on one of the brightly decorated stands (thank you Edouard, with all my heart, for putting up with me, supporting me and being my solutions man, amongst other things...), I was actually very pleased at how they turned out. Each one of my cupcakes was as beautiful and individual as the blissful couple.
As I stood with the other guests, to watch the procession of the bride and groom dancing their way down the aisle, I realized that all the blood, sweat and tears that go into a wedding gig are worth it, just to bear witness to the moment of joyous abandon that occurs when two people declare their love to each other and the world.
I'm such a sucker for love...
Setting the Mood
This beautiful mood board was created by a friend of mine to help inspire me in the creation of cupcakes for her wedding. It’s been used as wallpaper for my laptop at work and now hangs on my fridge at home, and I still find it just as breathtaking as I did when it first landed in my inbox three months ago. I love the splashes of bright color, how the beautiful and mysterious Frida lends the presence of a wise woman, and how paired with the festiveness of the swirling flamenco skirts and the haunting exquisiteness of the Día de los Muertos relics, the entire collage gives you a feeling of Old World traditions, something both happy-sad and beautiful. It is these particular images that give me a feel for the mood that she wants to convey to her guests and loved ones, even more so then the examples of cupcakes interspersed throughout the collage. She has put all her love and creativity into planning her wedding to her beloved and I intend to put the same care and consideration into those cupcakes, and in a week's time, that's exactly what I'll be doing.
Stay tuned...
mari
in daily life, cupcakes, weddings
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New Love: Ganache
In the Netherlands, it's traditional to bring sweet treats, normally cakes or vlaai to your work in honor of your birthday. I like this tradition a whole lot better then, the other birthday tradition of picking up the tab on your birthday. I firmly believe that your birthday should be a treat for you, not others!
E.'s birthday was last week, and so I took the opportunity to try out some new recipes and ideas for cupcakes for him to take to work. I decided on two different kinds of filled cupcakes, a whole new adventure for me, having never made filled cupcakes before. After much thought and a bit of inspiration from my newest cookbooks, I decided to make a devil's food cupcakes laced with coffee, filled with ganache and topped with white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream, and yellow cupcakes filled with lemon curd and topped with lemon glaze.
lemon-luscious!
The ganache was super easy to make and easy to work with, but the lemon curd was more difficult to use as a filling and bled into the glaze. More practice is definitely in order, but the reactions were more than positive, and even I had to admit that they were pretty darn good. My next challenge will be to use ganache as a glaze for a layer cake or cupcakes, which I'm very much looking forward to!
Ganache
(adapted from The Art of Cake: Modern French Baking and Decorating )
10 ounces (285 g) bittersweet chocolate
1 cup (2,4 dL) crème fraîche
Place chocolate in a small stainless steel bowl. In a small, heavy saucepan, bring the crème fraîche just to a simmer, between 165ºF and 185ºF (73ºC and 85ºC). Reduce the heat and sterilize the crème fraîche by simmering it for minimally 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent it from boiling over.
Remove the crème fraîche from the stove and gradually pour over the chocolate, stirring constantly with a whisk. Continue stirring with the whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and the ganache is smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool, stirring occasionally. Use the ganache when it thickens, but before it sets, or store for later use.
The ganache can be stored, covered airtight for up to one week in the refrigerator. To use, remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before use. Once it has reached room temperature, place it in a stainless steel bowl and warm the bottom of the bowl briefly over direct heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove it from the heat and beat it with the spatula. Return to the heat and repeat as necessary to achieve a smooth and spread able, but not runny ganache.
I used crème fraîche, but you can also use the same amount of heavy cream. For this recipe I used a Callebaut bittersweet chocolate and was very happy with the results.
Love Hangover
Yesterday I shot out of bed to frost the red velvet cupcakes and a mini (6 inch) red velvet cake that I'd made the night before, fanatically sent out homemade e-cards, then cycled off to work to spread cupcake love amongst my colleagues, finishing the day (and the mini cake) at home of good friends for dinner. Today, I was suffering what my boss ironically phrased as, "a love hungover." I've knackered myself in spirit of love, which I find too hilarious.
So it's early to bed for me tonight, but I just wanted to share an amazing and amusing interview with Violet Blue I read over at All Cupcakes, All The Time, where she basically sums up why I love cupcakes. Nice spicy reading for any time of the year. Enjoy!
